What are they afraid of?

It’s 3:57 p.m. Tuesday. The newspaper is chugging toward final deadline. It’s a good feeling. I’m on the phone when an ad salesperson walks into my office and hands me a faxed letter.

Dear Advertiser:

We recently saw your ad in the Reno News and Review. We just wanted to let you know that the Reno Gazette-Journal will run your same ad in our Calendar section for the same price as you paid for your Reno News and Review ad. Our Calendar section publishes every Friday. It includes information about events, restaurants, outdoor activities, etc. We just ask that you provide us a copy of your Reno News and Review bill so we can bill you at the same price.

If you have any questions or would like deadline information, please feel free to call.

I’m not going to name the person who was kind enough to fax the letter to us. That person asked me not to because he/she was afraid of what the Gazette would do to her/his business. Fine, although that’s a pretty serious indictment by itself. For the same reasons, I’m not going to mention the account executive’s name either.

I would like to ask a question, though. How do full-pay advertisers feel when they look at their advertisement in the Calendar section of the Reno Gazette-Journal and see a similar-sized ad that cost the neighboring advertiser much, much less? I wonder if these advertisers consider the fact that the only reason the RGJ is letting other advertisers, some their rivals, pay less is because the giant newspaper is threatened by the Reno News & Review.

Maybe those advertisers should consider the benefits of newspaper competition.

The word’s out: place an ad in the Reno News& Review, get a discount in the Reno Gazette-Journal. Anyway, I hope you relish this week’s issue as much as we, the 11 staffers at 708 N. Center St., do.